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Heavy highway traffic likely in Morgan County over Labor Day weekend

Gas cheaper in Fort Morgan for holiday than in more than a decade

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
09/01/2016 05:53:45 PM MDT

Updated:
09/02/2016 12:41:36 PM MDT

With regular unleaded gas costing just $2.05 per gallon, Fort Morgan's Sav-O-Mat Sinclair station was a popular place on Thursday afternoon. Many people likely were filling up their tanks ahead of the long Labor Day weekend and taking advantage of the currently cheap price for gas. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

Online travel resources

Gas prices:Gasbuddy.com offers searches by city/state for the lowest gas prices or top-tier fuel selection that is available at nearby gas stations.

State road/highway conditions: The Colorado Department of Transportation offers updates on road conditions, closures due to accidents and other travel information at www.cotrip.org.

Denver International Airport: Updates on parking availability, security line waits and more is available at flydenver.com

Those fueling up at Maverik gas station in Fort Morgan on Thursday afternoon paid $2.05 for a gallon of unleaded. If that price holds through the weekend, it would be among the lowest Labor Day gas price in more than a decade, according to industry watcher GasBuddy. (Jenni Grubbs / Fort Morgan Times)

Travelling by car, truck or RV this Labor Day weekend likely will be a bit more affordable than it has been over this holiday in more than a decade, thanks to low gas prices.

In Fort Morgan, the price of regular unleaded at the three discount gas stations on north Main Street rose by about 8 cents in recent days, but it was still hovering at $2.05 per gallon on Thursday afternoon.

This still is lower than the $2.21 per gallon national average reported by industry watcher GasBuddy, along with being far lower than the average costs for gas in

GasBuddy expects the national average to be $2.19 per gallon, a slight decrease versus the current national average of $2.21 per gallon and far lower than average Labor Day prices over the last decade. Those ranged from $2.40 in 2015 to $3.64 in 2011 and $2.90 in 2007, with lots of ups and downs over the years.

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For Morgan County residents, the cheaper cost of gas right now may mean an extra trip somewhere or else maybe just a bit of extra spending money that did not go into their gas tanks.

Those with RV's, boats and other outdoor adventure equipment may take the opportunity to head to one of the area or state's lakes or parks.

Plenty of people already have plans to head to Jackson Lake State Park this weekend, according to Darby Shanks, administrative assistant at Jackson Lake.

Jackson Lake State Park has at least 241 campsites, and many are available year-round. But most of them are already booked for Saturday night over Labor Day weekend. (Colorado Parks & Wildlife / Courtesy photo)

Jackson Lake has six campgrounds with 241 individual campsites, as well as a handful of group site. While there were still some available for Friday night and a few for Sunday afternoon, all of the campsites that could be reserved for Saturday already were booked as of Thursday afternoon, according to Shanks.

The state park does offer about 30 sites that are first-come, first-serve, she said, but they likely will be snapped up quickly yet Friday or early Saturday, Shanks said.

This is not just because of Labor Day, though, she said.

"It's been very busy," Shanks said. "We're pretty much booked every weekend."

With opportunities for boating, swimming, fishing, biking, hiking and lots more outdoor activities, Jackson Lake State Park is likely to be a popular destination over Labor Day weekend. While most of the park's campsites are already reserved on Saturday night, Jackson Lake staff expected there still to be plenty of parking available for those who come for the day-use activities over the long weekend. (Colorado Parks & Wildlife / Courtesy photo)

But for those seeking a recreational day outing, rather than overnight stays, Jackson Lake will still have plenty to offer folks over Labor Day weekend, she said. The park and lake's day-use area will be open to the public, and there should be "plenty of parking" to accommodate those who come.

And those headed to state parks, like Jackson Lake, can always check out a state parks pass backpack from one of the local libraries. Such backpacks are available for check out to library card-holders at the library at Morgan Community College, Fort Morgan Public Library and East Morgan County Library.

This option has been quite popular at the library at MCC, according to Learning Resources Director April Amack. Of the two backpacks MCC has, one was already checked out for the Labor Day weekend.

She said people often will look into the program for checking out the state parks backpacks and then plan then trips or vacations around their availability.

Another local camping option is at Fort Morgan's Riverside Park, which has 10 to 12 RV spaces on the south side near the playground. These are offered for free and do have electric hook-ups, although it likely is not enough power for air-conditioning in campers, according to the city. These sites are available to the first comers.

But anyone hitting the highways and interstates for far-away campgrounds or trips should be prepared for crowded roads and heavy traffic, according to AAA and Gas Buddy, with lower gas prices likely being a factor.

Drivers also should be aware that CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol will be out in force watching for drunken or stoned drivers. The latest round of the Heat Is On campaign is going on throughout the holiday weekend.

For those who do take to the roads, the Colorado Department of Transportation offers updates on road conditions, closures due to accidents and other travel information online at www.cotrip.org.

And regardless of cheap gas, air traffic likely will be very heavy, according to a Denver International Airport spokesman, with potentially 10 percent more travellers this Labor Day than in 2015.

But the biggest obstacle for air travelers may be finding a parking spot at DIA. There is a way to check on this, though, as flydenver.com offers real-time airport parking availability information. This site also offers wait times for getting through airport security.

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